question on grains

[supersonic_528]

Hi all,

I'm a brand new member and have been thinking about going 100% raw. Very recently (last week to be precise) I decided about going raw and currently I'm about 40-50% raw I guess. The raw part of my diet mostly comes from green smoothies, salads and fruits.

Now, eating grains has always been a big part of my diet. I used to eat brown rice and wheat, but after starting on the raw thing, I have been trying to minimize my intake of grains, because they are cooked. I know I can try sprouted grains but haven't done that yet. Even then, giving up entirely on cooked grains seems a bit difficult to me. Is there a way I can still have grains in my diet (maybe less cooked or something like that)? I am thinking to be primarily eating quinoa from now on as my grain intake (after leaning that it's a complete protein and more nutritious than rice or wheat).

My second question is, is there any disadvantage if I cook my grains (quinoa)? I know it will kill the enzymes and maybe some of the other nutrients (but hopefully not lysine?), but other than this, will there be any ill-effects on the health? I also read somewhere on the web that eating raw grains (the non-sprouted one) is not advisable. Is there anything major that I would be missing out on if I eat my grains cooked (but everything else as raw)?

I do really need to eat some grains, otherwise I think I'm losing weight (when I started, my weight was 156lbs and now it's about 150lbs and I'm a male 5'11 tall) and don't feel full most of the time. Please help me sort this problem out :) Thanks!

[raweater]

Welcome to Raw Food Talk!

Grains, especially those with gluten (which is most of them), are very unhealthy and known to cause several diseases. They are also very high in sugar and have similar effects on health as refined white sugar. Dr. Mercola on www.mercola.com has lots of articles on why grains, even so called "healthy" ones like quinoa, should be avoided.

You can sprout them, but they will still contain gluten and in my opinion if you're going to take the time to sprout something it may as well be something that's truely healthy.

About complete protein, you can get all the protein you need without grains, soy, etc. I've gained 40 lbs on a 75% raw diet by working out and very little of what I gained is fat. Among my 25% cooked sometimes I will have brown rice which is not really a grain but even that I very rarely eat.

About when you say you need to eat some grains otherwise you loose weight, it's not that you need grains, it's most liekly that you need more energy dense foods. In order to gain weight you must eat more calories than you are burning, you said you're raw part is mostly smoothies, salads and fruits, all of these are about 90% water and extremely low in calories.

What I do to get more calories is eat more energy dense foods for example in a smoothie I will add 1/4-1/2 cup of walnuts in a 3 cup smoothie, this adds 200-400 calories without affecting the taste much at all, you can also add a banana, coconut oil, hemp seeds, etc which are all very high in calories. You can also add avocado, walnuts and/or hempseeds to your salads to add a few hundred calories.

Also look for recipes that have nuts and seeds in them as they will automatically have more calories and help maintain or gain weight.

Lastly, strongly consider doing weight lifting, I had fallen to 130 lbs when I went raw, but when I started weight lifting on a raw diet I went back up to 170 lbs in about 8 months and I'm about 5'7".

[supersonic_528]

Thanks raweater for your reply!

I heard that quinoa doesn't have gluten. Isn't that true? Also, technically it's not a grain but due to its similarity in appearence with grains, it is usually considered as a grain. Also, isn't brown rice a grain? I thought it is.

You said that you don't eat quinoa, soy etc. Then where do you get complete protein from? I heard that plant proteins do not contain all essential amino acids (for example, lysine). Spirulina is complete protein and I put one teaspoon of it in my green smoothie everyday. Also, quinoa is complete protein.

Thanks for the suggestion on adding nuts in smoothies. I will do that.

I do some weight lifting, nothing very serious though. It's encouraging to hear that you gained weight on a raw diet. Will probably ask for more advices from you in the future :)

[JennaBoBenna]

Thanks raweater for your reply!

I heard that quinoa doesn't have gluten. Isn't that true? Also, technically it's not a grain but due to its similarity in appearence with grains, it is usually considered as a grain. Also, isn't brown rice a grain? I thought it is.

You said that you don't eat quinoa, soy etc. Then where do you get complete protein from? I heard that plant proteins do not contain all essential amino acids (for example, lysine). Spirulina is complete protein and I put one teaspoon of it in my green smoothie everyday. Also, quinoa is complete protein.

Thanks for the suggestion on adding nuts in smoothies. I will do that.

I do some weight lifting, nothing very serious though. It's encouraging to hear that you gained weight on a raw diet. Will probably ask for more advices from you in the future :)

You don't need to eat complete protein to get protein. Just mix and match your amino acids(leafy greens) and you'll do great :)

[supersonic_528]

You don't need to eat complete protein to get protein. Just mix and match your amino acids(leafy greens) and you'll do great :)

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_protein :

Complete proteins, also known as high quality proteins, "contain all the essential amino acids in amounts adequate for human use; it may or may not contain all the others. Generally proteins derived from animal foods (meats, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, yogurt, and milk) are complete, though gelatin is an exception. Proteins derived from plant foods (legumes, grains, and vegetables) tend to be limiting in essential amino acids. Some are notoriously low, such as corn protein. Others are high-soy protein" (Nutrition for health and Health Care.)
Some foods contain all the essential amino acids on their own in a sufficient amount to qualify as a "complete protein". Complete protein foods that also obtain the highest possible PDCAAS score of 1.0 are certain dairy products, egg whites, and soy protein isolate. Other foods, such as amaranth, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae, buckwheat, hempseed, meat, poultry, soybeans, quinoa, seafood, and spirulina also are complete protein foods, but may not obtain a PDCAAS score of 1.0.

[snoops]

yes but you eat a variety of incomplete proteins from veggies and greens and your body makes complete proteins out of them. Combines them you know. You don't even have to eat them at one sitting. Just over the day. If this was not the case all vegans would be severely protein deficient and there is very little protein deficiency in North America.

[supersonic_528]

Thanks for clarifying this. If you guys can post some answers to my original post (in case there is anything other than what raweater has said) , that would be much appreciated. Thanks!